There are numerous apparatus in the industry for temporality fastening and retaining a line in position. The lines are often made from cord, rope, wire, steel cable or other material. Among prior art steel cable fastener technology, steel cable has been affixed to objects using clips, clamps, sleeves or crimp fittings, many of the prior art methods of coupling and fastening steel cable are either time consuming or require cumbersome tools or both.
Particularly out in the field there is a need for an apparatus that enables a person to quickly fasten and then unfasten a steel cable without the need for cumbersome and/or special tools. Once fastened the steel cable needs to be able to remain fastened in position. The strength of hold on the steel cable should be at least commensurate with the strength of the cable.
In the prior art many devices are employed for fastening cord into a fixed position that are manually employed without the need for a tool to crimp, swage or clamp the cord to the fastener, see U.S. patents: U.S. Pat. No. 307,806 (Sailer), U.S. Pat. No. 1,333,375 (Davis), U.S. Pat. No. 3,007,220 (Hafner et al), U.S. Pat. No. 480,733 (Boden and U.S. Pat. No. 5,471,723 (Alter et al.). However, such cords disclosed therein have limited strength and are unsuitable for situations demanding a strong line.
Ratchet straps are commonly used for securing objects in transit or in temporary installations. Examples include the following Item Numbers available from US Cargo Control (www.uscargocontrol.com): 5012WH-Y, 5027CE-Y, and BL8530FH. Other examples are McMaster-Carr part numbers 9116T61 and 9116T64. Ratchet straps typically have metal hooks for connection of the end-points, and metal ratchet parts, but use polymer webbing as the flexible element that is retracted to change the working length. For some applications, particularly in harsh environments, the polymer webbing is a disadvantage since it is vulnerable to stresses such as mechanical abrasion, chemical attack, or weakening by heat or ultraviolet rays.
In other prior art seals are employed to fasten together cable in a loop. The seal is generally made for a one-time use, the seal is constructed so that the cable can only be removed by breaking the seal material, typically a thermoplastic, and then removing the cable. A cable security seal such as item code MS-05.0-54K from NovaVision Inc. of Bowling Green, Ohio includes a wire-rope cable and a locking mechanism that allows the cable to be set up as an adjustable-length loop while providing a strong hold on the cable.
Master Lock Company LLC of Oak Creek Wis. sells an adjustable locking cable under the trademark Python; examples are product numbers 8418D and 8413KA. These cables are more rugged than ratchet straps because they include a steel core. The cable is locked into position using a common everyday pin tumbler lock mechanism. Such lock and key mechanisms are well known in the art, but pin tumbler locks and are more complex and expensive to fabricate.
In the field it is often desirable to fasten a line about an object or objects so as to bundle and/or fix the object(s) to a stationary object. There is a need for a strong and durable apparatus that can be quickly and conveniently looped and fastened together and just as quickly and conveniently unfastened in the field.